Tough new measures for German football spark demos

Euronews

A sharp rise in violence in German football and pressure from politicians has led to a tighter set of security measures planned for the game.

The country’s football authorities along with the 36 clubs from the top two tiers have voted to adopt a 16 point plan which includes tougher stadium checks, video monitoring and a greater crackdown on flares and smoke bombs.

Figures showed violence has reached a 12-year-high. Last season had the greatest number of criminal proceedings in over a decade.

“All 16 points have been approved, but it is still not a triumph. We are far from seeing it like that but we see it as a solution, an autonomous solution for the football league, its clubs, its corporation, which have proven that they can manage to solve problems on their own,” explained Reinhard Rauball President of the German Football League.

The measures have not been welcomed by fans, hundreds of whom staged a protest outside the meeting in Frankfurt on Wednesday. Supporters at Bundesliga matches in the last two weeks have maintained a period of silence at games in protest.

The measures also include home teams reducing or providing no tickets to away spectators.

The announcement comes despite a financial boom in the Bundesliga which recorded the world’s highest average match attendance last season.